[ad_1]
Plans to relax Covid restrictions at Christmas must be reversed or many lives are at risk, according to a rare joint editorial by two of the UK’s most eminent medical journals.
The government can no longer claim it is protecting the NHS if it goes ahead with “headlong” plans to allow households to mingle indoors during Christmas, the British Medical Journal and the Health Service Journal have said.
“We believe that the government is about to make another big mistake that will cost many lives,” he says.
It warns that if current trends continue, there will be 19,000 Covid patients in English hospitals by New Year’s Eve, the same as at the peak of the first wave on April 12. Those numbers don’t take into account the impact of the Christmas mix between homes and the freedom to travel to see family.
The editorial says the additional Covid-19 patient case load is likely to be 40 times higher than at the beginning of the second wave.
“NHS trusts are likely to face a tough choice in the new year: to feel overwhelmed or to stop most elective and non-urgent jobs,” the editorial warned. “Rather than lift restrictions on Christmas as currently planned, the UK should follow the more cautious examples of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.”
The change in magazines, which cover both physicians and policies and management across the health service, will increase pressure on the government to reconsider plans to allow three households to mix from December 23 to 27. .
France It reopened nonessential stores this month, allowing holiday shopping to begin. But an increase in new infections since then means that while travel is allowed beginning December 15, a nationwide curfew will begin from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., lifting on December 24, but not the Christmas Day or New Years Eve. Bars and restaurants won’t reopen until January and private gatherings are limited to six adults.
Germany extended its “lockdown lite” until early January, but amid a record spike in infections and deaths, it may have to close more before Christmas, possibly allowing people to leave home for only essential reasons and close stores starting December 21. Private meetings are currently limited to five, a limit that should be increased to 10 between December 23 and January 1, but this may change.
AustriaThe strict lockdown ends this month. The country is running a massive 10 million test program over the next fortnight with the goal of allowing more families to come together during the holiday period. The Christmas markets have been canceled.
Italy has banned interregional travel from December 20 to January 6, except for work, health or emergency reasons, and Italians cannot leave their cities on Christmas, Saint Stephen or New Year’s Day. The midnight mass on December 24 will be brought forward so that the faithful can get home before the country’s curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., and people arriving from EU countries must present a negative test.
Spain has called for people to be held accountable, but will allow movement between regions “for family reasons” between December 23 and January 6. Regional curfews, which run from 10 p.m. to midnight, will be delayed until 1.30 a.m. M. On December 24 and 31, when the meeting limit will be raised from six to ten, a measure that will also apply on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Authorities in the Netherlands They have said current restrictions will not be relaxed by Christmas and may still be strengthened if infections rise. Guests at the Christmas dinner will be limited to three (except those under 13); cafes, bars and restaurants will be closed except for take away food; non-essential stores must close at 8 pm and all non-essential travel is discouraged.
Belgium It has said that households can be in close contact with only one additional person during the Christmas period, although people living alone will be able to meet two others. Fireworks will be banned on New Years Eve to limit gatherings.
Poland It will allow people to spend Christmas with only their immediate family, with no more than five guests to be invited to each home until at least December 27, and travel outside of people’s home cities will be prohibited.
John henley Correspondent in Europe
The joint editorial, only the second joint effort in the titles’ 100-year history, said it was time to rethink Christmas restrictions in light of the current rate of infections.
“When the government drew up current plans to allow domestic mixing over Christmas, it assumed that the demand for Covid-19 on the NHS would be declining. But this is not the case, it is increasing, and the appearance of a new strain of the virus has introduced a greater potential danger, ”says the editorial.
“The government was too slow to introduce restrictions in the spring and again in the fall. You should now reverse your hasty decision to allow domestic mixing and instead extend levels over the five-day Christmas period to cut the numbers in advance of a potential third wave. It should also review and strengthen the tier structure, which has failed to suppress infection and hospitalization rates. “
The NHS is confident that the most pressured regional health systems are already having to cancel almost all elective and non-urgent care due to the resurgence of the virus, the editorial says. “Even if the NHS England manages to vaccinate all those ‘at risk’ before Easter, this will not be in time to avoid hospitalization and death for many in the coming months,” he adds.
The BMJ and HSJ also criticize NHS Track and Trace and the government’s plan for mass testing with lateral flow testing. The tracking service, “which has almost nothing to do with the NHS, continues to waste money on failures. So does the mass testing of asymptomatic people using lateral flow tests that are not suitable for their purpose, ”the editorial says.
